Through the Bible with Les Feldick, Book 78

LESSON ONE * PART I

CHRIST AS THE ROCK OF SCRIPTURE

Various Scriptures

Okay, it’s good to see everybody in this afternoon. For those of you joining us on television, again we want to thank you for joining us. We have just come back from a rather long trip. And you know, the thing that just rings in our ears when we get home is the word “every.” They all say the same thing – we watch you every morning. Well, you know we love to hear that. And a couple right here just told us the same thing. That tells us that there’s a hunger. You’re not watching it just to kill half an hour from time-to-time, but to really get hooked on the Word of God.

And as one of my listeners I was talking to last night said, “I never had an interest in this before, but now I just can’t get enough.” Well, that’s as it should be. You know, just as soon as that new baby is born, it starts crying. What triggers the cry? Hunger. They want to be fed. And that’s the way it should be with a new believer. So those of you out in television, again, we just thank you for your response. We thank you for your kind letters and your financial help and everything that makes this possible.

All right, we’re going to start a new book today. It is book number 78. We finished our review of Genesis to Revelation in the last taping. I’m going to be looking at something new today. We’re going to look at the many times in Scripture that Jesus Christ is referred to as the Rock or the Stone. And there’s a lot of confusion of that simply because of one verse. The studio audience already has it, so those of you in television go with us to Matthew chapter 16. We’re going to drop in at verse 13. These are verses that we’ve used many times, but we’re going to comment when we get down to verse 18.

Matthew 16:13-17

“When Jesus came into the borders of Caesarea Philippi, (up there in Northern Israel) he asked his disciples (the Twelve), saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,

Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” Which, of course, is the normal way of enlightening people. Peter isn’t the first nor the last. Now here it comes in verse 18. Jesus is speaking.

Matthew 16:18

“And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; (And remember, the word is always ecclesia, so it was a called-out assembly. Not necessarily the Body of Christ Church, but it would be a Jewish called-out assembly.) and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

I’m not a Greek scholar, but I went into some of my Greek dictionaries and I didn’t find anything that I hadn’t heard before. And that is that there’s a play on words here. They’re pretty much the same—the Rock or Stone. One of the Hebrew words, or the Greek, is Cephas—from which we get Peter’s other name—which is the word for rock or stone. The only difference is that when He says, “Thou art Peter,” it’s in the feminine, if I’ve got it right. But when He speaks of the other, “upon this rock,” then it’s masculine. Then I went to a couple of the other commentaries and they both maintain that, yes, indeed, He was speaking to Peter as the “little stone,” but upon Himself as “the Rock, I will build my church.”

And then I was really shocked when I got into Augustine. You know I’ve been rather critical of Augustine, because after all he became the father of Roman Catholicism. Yet even Augustine maintained that the Rock on which Christ was speaking was Himself—not Peter, but Himself.

Of course, we are all aware that Roman Catholicism stresses the fact that that’s why Peter became the first pope, because of this statement right here. But the Roman Catholics aren’t alone. There are a lot of other Protestant groups that adhere to the same thing. That when Jesus said “upon this rock,” He was speaking of Peter. And I’m going to show, hopefully from Scripture, contrary to the tradition of Christendom, that the Rock in Scripture is always Jesus Christ. He is the Rock. He is the Stone! We’re going to chase them down and see if we can make sense.

Now, before we go back and look up our Old Testament reference to that, I want you to go ahead with me to Romans chapter 15. I think it’s either verse 3 or 4—verse 4. This is the basis for our study today. We’re going to go back to the Old Testament, and we’re going to look at these terms concerning Christ as the Rock or the Stone, because Paul writes and tells us that:

Romans 15:4a

“For whatsoever thing were written aforetime (in other words, back in the Old Testament) were written for our learning,…”

And you know I’m always stressing there’s a big difference between learning and doctrine. Doctrine is that which influences our behavior. Doctrine is what brings us to salvation. But learning is just simply background. So all these Old Testament Scriptures are for background more than they are for our doctrine. In the Old Testament we get a good understanding of how God has worked from the very onset of the human experience. All right, reading on:

Romans 15:4b

“…were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Now, we’re going to go back to Exodus. As you turn back to Exodus, I want you to be thinking of one or two instances in the Old Testament where that is so apropos.

The first one that always comes to my mind is Joseph. Now there was Joseph, the favored son, hated by the brethren. And because of their hatred, they sold him into slavery, and where did he end up? Down in Egypt! And another unfortunate situation was in the house of Potiphar when Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of trying to assault her, and he was consequently thrown into prison. And if I’ve got my timing right, the poor guy must have been in prison about 10 years. Did God ever give up on him? Did God forget about him? Why, no! So it tells us—no matter how tough things may get, no matter how deep the valley we’re going through—God is there. And in His own time He’s going to bring us out of it, even as He did Joseph.

Well, I think that’s what Paul refers to then. That we study and learn from these Old Testament Scriptures so that we, too, may have the patience to wait on God—knowing that in His own time He’s going to bring us through to the fruition of everything.

All right, now one of the first instances in Scripture where we have Christ as the Rock is here in Exodus chapter 17. Of course, Israel is out there on the desert. Not a very pleasant place to be in the Middle East. And how much of our everyday resources are on the desert? None. There’s nothing. You know, the best time I can picture the desert is, if any of you went with us, when we went down to Petra. From Amman all the way down to Petra is an all day drive in that bus, and it’s just nothing but flat gravel, nothing even for an animal to eat. There were a few camels out there. I don’t know whether they eat rocks or what! But that was the perfect picture of the desert. There’s nothing!

Well, that’s where these Israelites are. They’re out there on the desert. You know, it just happened that Iris was going through some of her stuff yesterday and she came up

with a little internet article that somebody sent me several years ago. I’m sure you’ve all seen it—where someone in our American Army took the time one day to put together the logistics that were necessary for Israel out there on the desert. I’m sure most of you have read it and seen it. And they were looking at the same figure that I have used over the years—three million people. I remember the first time I taught this, I used Dallas-Fort Worth as an example. Because in the 1990 census, if I remember right, in Dallas-Fort Worth there were a little over three million people.

So I used the example: can you imagine Dallas and Fort Worth moving out in mass and then ending out there on the desert with nothing of natural provision. They were totally dependent on God. Totally! But they were human, so what did they do? They griped. And they complained. And sometimes it got worse than others. And Moses said, “God, these are not my people. I didn’t conceive them. You can have them.” And God said, “No, they’re not Mine. They’re yours.”

But nevertheless, get the picture? The poor people were out there on that flat desert living in their tents. I don’t image they even had the wherewithal for a pick-up basketball game or a softball game. What did the poor people do for diversion? And that’s why things got pretty difficult. But nevertheless, the Nation of Israel is out there completely dependent on their God.

Now what are we to learn from that? Well, that’s where we are. We are totally dependent. We can’t do anything on our own, because as soon as a believer thinks he can do it on his own, he’s in trouble. So here’s one of the lessons that we learn from this – that as Israel was totally dependent on their miracle-working God, so we have to be dependent day by day.

Now, when I say miracle-working—as I was going over all this the last few weeks—has there ever been a greater miracle than God moving a Nation of three to five million people out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, out onto the desert, and taking care of them for forty years? What a miracle!

But anyway, imagine how many millions of gallons of water it took every day just for their routine use? Cooking and bathing and what have you. And the car loads of wood that it would take for their fires! And we know they cooked the manna. They fried it. They boiled it and everything, so they had to have fires. This article, that I forgot to bring today, went through all the humongous amounts of material that those three million people needed—not just for a day or two, not just for a week of campout, but for forty years. And yet God provided.

Well, that brings us all the way up to Exodus 17. Again, I’m going to start at verse 1, because we’ve got plenty of time.

Exodus 17:1-2

“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, (See, this is all under the Lord’s direction day-by-day.) and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2. Wherefore the people did chide (or began to complain) with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt (test) the LORD?” Well, I don’t know what Moses expected them to do. You sure don’t get water on the desert.

Exodus 17:3

“And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” That’s the other thing I think a lot of time we forget. They didn’t just move out with humanity, but they had all their livestock. And it must have been tremendous numbers of it. Everything had to eat and drink. Now what I’m building on is the miraculousness of it all, and how God constantly supplied their need.

All right, now just to show you how they complained, I think it’s in Numbers 11. Turn there with me. Numbers 11 and jump down to verse 4. Now, this was the attitude of these Israelites, I imagine, during the whole 40 years out there on that sandy desert.

Numbers 11:4

“And the mixed multitude that was among them (Now, that was probably non-Israelites—maybe a few of the Egyptians. We don’t know.) fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?” Well, what have they been eating? Manna. The provided food, but they were getting sick and tired of manna. They cooked it. They boiled it. They fried it. They baked it. And it was still manna. All right, so now they want flesh. Now look at verse 5.

Now all we think of these Israelites is that they had been in absolute slavery. And slavery, we know, is never a very pleasant experience. That meant that from the time the sun came up in the morning until it set at night they were under the slave masters. But on the other hand, it wasn’t all bad, because look at the next verse.

Numbers 11:5

“We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leaks, and the onions, and the garlick:” Isn’t that amazing? And you know what? That’s the favorite diet of a Jew today.

My, our breakfasts over there when we go to Israel, that’s what it is. It is cucumbers and fish and you name it. It hasn’t changed. So, you see, we don’t want to blot out certain parts of these things and be overcome by this. Along with their slavery and the horrors of it, they still had the good things they were willing to eat. They had their fish and their vegetables, and they had plenty of water. They were up there in the richest area of Egypt.

Now you want to remember, Goshen was the most productive part, agriculturally, of Egypt. So we know that these are not just so many empty words. They had the wherewithal to produce a lot of food. Now, as they’re out there on the desert, I think we can appreciate the fact that they were reminiscing. My goodness, back in Egypt, even though we did work all day, at least we could sit down and have a meal when we got home at night. We were always with plenty of water to drink, and here we are with nothing to eat except this manna and nothing to drink. There’s no water. Okay, now let’s move on.

Exodus 17:4-5a

“And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5. And the LORD said unto Moses, go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod,…” Now remember, that’s been an important thing from day one when Moses went back to Egypt with that shepherd’s rod. All right, He said to be sure you take your rod.

Exodus 17:5b-6a

“…take the rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, (Back there when he was in Egypt and he smote the Nile—and all the things that would happen when he would use that shepherd’s rod.) take in thine hand, and go. 6. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock (There’s your word.) in Horeb;…” Now remember, that’s just the other name for Mount Sinai.

Exodus 17:6b-7

“…and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of

Israel, and because they tempted (or tested) the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”

Now it doesn’t say here, but in another account we have what came out—a dribble or a river? A river! A river of water coming out there on the blank desert out of this rock, which was sufficient for these millions of Israelites plus all their livestock. And what does that tell us? God provided all their needs. Well, what’s the lesson for us? We’re going to see it more distinctly when we get back up into Matthew, when the woman at the well said, “Give me of this water.” Well, what was Jesus talking about? The water of Life! And this was a picture of it. This was simply a symbolic picture of what Christ would be to His own of any period of time. So out came this river of water with which they were all satisfied. Now the next verse is the next step after salvation, for us even today. Things never change. Verse 8:

Exodus 17:8a

“Then came Amalek,...” Amalek, you remember, was one of the sons or grandsons of Esau, and they were arch-enemies of the Jews. They were their constant torment. So these tribes of these Amalekites, when they saw this river of water out there in the desert, what do you suppose they did? Well, hey, they’re going to come and take their part. And as they did, of course, it caused a fight. So we have a war between these Israelites and the Amalekites.

But what’s the spiritual lesson? Well, it’s the same way in the spiritual. Just as soon as we feast on salvation, what’s the first thing that comes in? Opposition from the devil and the evil part of the world. They taunt and they torment. So here’s the lesson. But when you go on, of course, then we see that Israel prevailed.

But anyway, here is a perfect illustration. Now we’re going to go back to the New Testament for confirmation. Come back up to I Corinthians chapter 10, and see what Paul says concerning this Rock out there on the desert. This is where we learn – when you compare Scripture with Scripture. Otherwise you would never stop to think that just because Moses struck that rock that it was something special. But it was. And I’m going to let the Scripture tell you rather than myself.

I Corinthians 10:1a

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers (In other words, all of those Israelites that had come out of Egypt—three to five million of them.) were under the cloud,…” In other words, it was their shade for that desert heat during the day and it became a pillar of fire at night that protected them as well as gave them the light that they needed.

I Corinthians 10:1b-2

“…they were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (the Red Sea experience) 2. And were all baptized (Not the water baptism that Christendom thinks of, but they were placed by an act of God--) unto Moses (Or under Moses, or into Moses; however you want to put it. They were all placed.) in the cloud and in the sea;” As they came through—they were under God’s protective care.

I Corinthians 10:3-4

“And did all eat the same spiritual food; (The manna. And then the experience that we just covered.) 4. And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:(And now here it is.) and that Rock was (Who?) Christ.”

Now, you see, that’s hard for our feeble little human minds to comprehend. That piece of rock out there on the desert, over there on the other side of the Red Sea—that was Christ? It’s what The Book says. And what did Moses do? He smote it. Well, what was the smiting a picture of? The Cross!

When Christ was smitten for mankind, what did He become? He became that river of life-giving water. All the pictures and symbolisms fit. Everything from Genesis to Revelation fits. Here we have it as clear as language can make it. When Moses struck that rock with his rod, he was smiting the Christ of eternity, and out came the water.

So here is another perfect example of how Christ is the all-sufficient Rock. He is the One that gives eternal life. He supplies all the needs of not only Israel, but the whole human race. It’s just a beautiful picture of symbolism, again, how that all these things are teaching us and preparing the Nation of Israel.

Now, the point I want to make before we go any further, is that Israel is the primary recipient of the work and miraculousness of the Rock. We’re going to come later this afternoon to when Paul speaks of the foundation of the Church. But it won’t be a rock; it’s just going to be a foundation. But for Israel, all these references to the Rock as being Jesus Christ were predominately between God and Israel.

Now maybe I can make one point on that. Turn ahead with me a little bit to I Peter chapter 2. I’m going to come to it a little later. But for now, just turn to I Peter chapter 2 and see how this is such an affinity between God and Israel—this role of the Rock and the Stone. I Peter chapter 2 and dropping all the way down to verse 8.

I Peter 2:8-9a

“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them who stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. (But now verse 9, here’s where I really want to come in.) 9. But ye (These Jews to whom Peter is writing. And remember, Peter is writing to Jews. He’s writing to those who are scattered. All right, he says--) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy (or set apart) nation,...”

You see, none of that applies to the Church like most people like to think. This is Jewish language. They are the chosen Nation. They are the favored ones. They’re the peculiar people. They are the priestly nation.

I Peter 2:9b

“…that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” Well, yes, in a degree that applies to us as believers, but this is all primarily God dealing with His chosen people. They were the ones who were the Holy Priesthood. Remember way back in Exodus, we used it over and over, “and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.” Well, you see, the Scripture never tells you and me that in the Body of Christ. But Christendom as a whole can’t separate all this and makes the mistake of telling us this all belongs to us.

LESSON ONE * PART II

Christ as the Rock of Scripture

Various Scriptures

We’re beginning the next twelve programs going into the next book, Book 78. We’re taking sort of a subject matter today. We’re looking at Christ as the Rock and the Stone of Scripture. For this half hour, we’re going to look at the stumbling aspect of the Stone. How Israel was prophesied to do it and they did it. And they still are stumbling over that Rock of offence. We’re going to start our Scripture in this half hour in Psalms 118 verse 22.

While you’re looking that up, and for those of you out in television, again, we just want to invite you to a Bible study. That’s all we hope it to be. I don’t feel like I’m an evangelist. Although if you’d read our mail and how many people are getting saved, you’d kind of think so. But, you know, only once or twice in all the thirty years that I’ve been teaching has somebody come up and said, “Les, you should have given an invitation.”

One of them was at one of our times in Jerusalem last fall. We had a little over 200 people on that tour. For one reason or another, I was kind of wound up that night, even though it was long day. I think I had a nap a little while before. And, boy, when we went to that, I was wound up. And several people said, “Lands, Les, you should have given an invitation.” But I’ve never considered myself an evangelist or preacher. I prefer to just be the teaching end of it, and let the Scripture speak for Itself. All right, now in Psalms 118 verse 22, we have that exact language.

Psalms 118:22

“The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.” Now you have two opposites there, don’t you? I’ve referred to it before on the program. I think it is more legend than anything, but yet Scripture certainly supports that something like that might have happened.

While they were building the Temple—whether it was Solomon’s or Herod the Second’s temple is irregardless—all the stones were cut exactly out at the quarry, wherever that was, so there was no hammering and chiseling at the building site. And, probably through a mistake of the quarry workers, they sent one of the key-stones that was waiting for the latter end of the building. They sent it too early. And the builders on the building sight couldn’t figure out where it was to go. So, naturally, as men would

do, they rolled it off to the side. The weeds grew around it, and it became a stone of stumbling.

Well, I like that analogy, because that’s exactly what happened. You see, when Christ came the first time, Israel, like those builders, didn’t know what to do with Him. Think about that for a minute. They should have. They should have been able to search the Scriptures, but they didn’t. So they rejected the “stone of stumbling” by crucifying Him and literally screaming, “…we’ll not have this man ruling over us.”

But the last half of this verse is prophecy. And it’s still prophecy. But it’s coming. We’re getting closer and closer every day for the return of Christ, and then it will be in total fulfillment of all these prophecies. For He will indeed, yet, become the “Headstone of the Corner” of all these promises that have been given to the Nation of Israel.

Now, we’re not talking about a building, per se, of stone and mortar. We’re talking about a spiritual concept—how that when Christ will finally come and set up this glorious earthly kingdom and be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then that building will become complete. And, of course, He is the Cornerstone, the Headstone, or anything else that you’d want to put on that which is the most important. But here again, verse 22:

Psalm 118:22a

“The stone which the builders refused…” Now just get the picture. The stone came in from the quarry. It came to the building sight. The builders didn’t know what to do with it, so they rolled it aside. It became a stone of stumbling. But the end result is that He’s still going to be everything that He claimed to be.

All right, now let’s jump ahead a little bit to Isaiah chapter 8 verse 13. Again we have the same concept. Now I’m going to keep repeating all afternoon that this is a concept between God and Israel. Paul is going to refer to the stone of stumbling, but he’s going to refer to it with regard to Israel. We’ll see that maybe in this half hour, otherwise in one of the later ones. But the Rock and the Stone concept is between God and Israel.

Isaiah 8:13-14a

“Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,…” See how clear the language puts it? Now this is prophecy. This is looking forward to Israel’s future. Now remember,

we’re having it in two events. In His first coming, He was the Rock of Offence—and the vast majority of Israel ended up hating Him and detesting Him. Even Saul of Tarsus put people death for following this imposter.

But this whole concept, it’s done a lot for me in the last few weeks as I’ve been mulling these things over. Last night Iris looked at me with a blank look. It was just after supper and I said, “You’re wondering what I’m thinking?” And she says, “Yeah.” I said, “Tomorrow afternoon.”

Well, these things just keep rolling and rolling, and the more you think about it, the clearer the picture becomes. That all through Israel’s history, God has these promises. But before the promises come, what had to come first? Chastisement. Discipline. And the same way here. First, he’s going to be the Stone of Stumbling at His first coming. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? That was their attitude. And they finally ended up crucifying Him. “We’ll not have this man to rule over us.”

But see, here we’ve now come 2,000 years. I said in the last taping, remember, that God is timeless. How long in God’s thinking is 2,000 years? Nothing! So almost like a snap of the finger He’s ready to come back and fulfill the other half of these. Instead of being the Rock of Offence and Stone of Stumbling, He’s going to be the Headstone of the Corner. He’s going to be the King of the glorious Kingdom.

Isaiah 8:14a

“And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,…”

Now remember, the Old Testament is always dealing with the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes and the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. That’s why we so often see it split like it is here. But He’s going to be the same for all of them. Don’t think for a minute those Ten Tribes were ever lost. They are just as complete a part of Israel today as they were way back at the beginning. You know that was a false, false concept that was promoted primarily by Ted Armstrong. And, of course, others have followed along. They still try to promote the fact that the Ten Northern Tribes were lost.

No, they weren’t. They were never lost. Some of them went into captivity. But whenever somebody calls on it, I just tell them, “Well, now listen. You just get out your Bible, and you start reading Israel’s history back there in Chronicles and Kings and keep track of the civil wars. Keep track of the civil wars between Judah in the south and the Ten tribes or Israel in the north.” And they did. They had civil war. Well, in the very first civil war, the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah could only put out a few

hundred thousand. But the Ten tribes of the North could put out a million three-hundred thousand. Well, that was to be expected. They had five times as many more people, and it showed in their numbers of armed forces.

All right, then about five or six years after the first one, they had another one. And already the numbers had almost evened out. Judah was now able to put almost as many troops in the field as Israel. Then thirty years later, the Scripture says that Israel’s army was like a bunch of kid goats. They were worthless. There was nothing. And Judah had millions.

Well, now common sense ought to tell people—what started happening just as soon as the Nation divided? The people from the North start migrating down South. Why? The Temple was down there. And that was the heart of Israel’s life. So over the years they migrated and they migrated and they migrated. So that by the time Sennacherib came in and took Syria captive, there weren’t that many Jews left up there. They were all down in Judah.

All right, if you follow it a little further, and I didn’t intend to do this. I’m rambling. Now, you follow it a little further. Who comes and takes Judah captive? Well, Nebuchadnezzar. He takes them all out to Babylon, which is present-day Baghdad. And what does the Scripture say? Two Tribes? No. “The whole house of Israel” was taken captive. Then when they came back, even though it was only a small percentage of the whole, forty-four thousand or whatever it was, but what were they? Representatives of all the Tribes, all Israel came back.

And just to show how it held together up through history—when Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:36, and they’re asking what shall we do, what does Peter say? “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know assuredly.” Well, who’s the whole House of Israel? Judah and Benjamin? Why, heavens, no, all Twelve Tribes. So, if you’ve ever been dangled with that idea that some of the Jews were lost or the Tribes lost. You forget it.

And I’m even forgetting the most important one of all. Revelation chapter 7 when they sealed twelve thousand from each tribe, how many did they end up with? Twenty-four thousand? No. How many, Luther? A hundred and forty four, which, when I was in fourth grade was 12 X 12. I think it still is. Right? So, all Twelve Tribes are evenly represented at the beginning of the Tribulation. What’s the matter with these people? So, if you ever get dangled with that in front of you, that some of the Jewish Tribes are lost, you just forget it. Not a one was lost. All right, let’s get back to “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.”

All right, now I think I can jump all the way up to the New Testament. Let’s go up to Acts chapter 4. Now remember, it’s all still Jewish. Oh, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts chapter 4. Now again, verse 11 is the verse we want to look at, but let’s feed into it. Let’s get the flow. Let’s go to verse 8. Peter is addressing the Sanhedrin, not the religious leaders, but the political leaders.

Acts 4:8-9

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9. If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;” That’s back there in chapter 3, when they healed the lame man, you remember, and he was leaping for joy?

Acts 4:10

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him (The resurrected, ascended Lord, His power is still evident.) doth this man stand here before you whole.” Healed completely.

Acts 4:11

“This (This Jesus of Nazareth whom you rejected. Who was crucified, was buried, and rose from the dead. He ascended back to the Father’s right hand and is waiting to yet fulfill the other half of the promise that’s He’s going to be the Headstone of the Corner.) is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.” Now, are you getting the picture? It’s that same concept. That when the Headstone of the corner came in ahead of time and the builders couldn’t figure out where it put it, they rolled it off into a vacant lot. Now, I’m just using that as an illustration.

But, even though it became a stone—in fact I was thinking of it driving up. I know it happened to me one time when Iris and I were still able to go to Colorado every summer. We’d go trout fishing up in the mountains, just the two of us. And one night I went out after dark and got off the path a little bit, and I stumbled on a stone about that big. Hit me right in the shins. You know what that feels like – to get kicked in the shins by a stone of stumbling.

Well, you see, that’s what happened to Israel when Christ came the first time. He just literally kicked them in the shins, and they couldn’t get over it. All right, now Peter says the same thing.

Acts 4:11a

“This is the stone (Speaking of the Christ that healed the lame man. Not of Christ in His earthly ministry, now. He’s already ascended back to Glory. But the ascended Lord from Glory was still the power that healed the lame man. And so Peter says,) which was set at naught of you builders,…”

See what he’s driving at? They were the leaders of Israel. The Sanhedrin along with the priests, and they rejected Him out-of-hand. But Peter also gives rise to that which is still future. And that is that He’s still going to be the Headstone of the Corner. Only in symbolic language now, we’re talking of when He sets up this glorious Kingdom over which He will rule and reign as the God of Creation.

But now come back to verse 12. I’m mindful of this, because you know of the poll that was taken about a month ago, how that the vast percentage of Americans from all various denominational backgrounds are now claiming that there’s not just one way to heaven. You can pick and choose. You’re seeing it. I read an article again last night referring to that same poll, where people no longer have the concept that there is only one way of salvation.

Now, the reason I thought of that is this next verse. This is the verse that we have to rest on. This is the verse that 80% of American church people are rejecting out-of-hand. It’s scary. How long am I going to be able to teach the way I teach? I sometimes think it won’t be long.

In fact, I think if my ministry is getting the world, or getting America, ready for anything, it’ll be like China did when the Communists took over in the 40’s. What happened to the church? It went underground. And it survived all those horrible years with house churches. I think we’re getting ready for the same thing if the Lord tarries, because Christendom today does not like the truth. It’s evident. All right, Peter goes on in verse 12. This is where we stand.

Acts 4:12

“Neither is there salvation in any other: (Can’t be. So whenever you have groups holding hands who are Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims and Catholics and Lutherans and Baptists and Pentecostals, hey, it won’t fly, because they don’t agree on this. They will never agree that there is only one name given among men whereby we must be saved.) for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

And that’s where we get separated. That’s where we get pushed off to the side. All right, so read it again. This Headstone of the corner, this Stone rejected of the builders, is the One in whom there is salvation alone.

Acts 4:12b

“…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And, beloved, don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever compromise that. There is not a second or an alternative way to Glory.

All right, now I think I’ve got one more—Romans chapter 9 starting at verse 30. But now remember, just because Paul is writing it does not take away the Jewish concept of the stone and the rock, because chapter 9 is part of the three chapters where Paul deals with the Nation of Israel. Again, the language is evident.

Romans 9:30-32a

“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, (to whom he’s ministering) who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31. But Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32. Wherefore? (Or why? What was their problem?) Because they sought it not by faith,…”

It was a works religion. And it’s no different today. My goodness, most of Christendom is hung up on what we do. And it’s not what we do. It’s what God has done! But they can’t swallow that. All right, so that was Israel’s problem from day one.

Romans 9:32-33a

“Wherefore? (Why?) Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. (That was Israel’s standard.) For they stumbled at this stumbling stone; (What stumbling stone?) 33. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion (That’s Jerusalem.) a stumbling stone and rock of offence:…” That’s what He was to most of Israel.

But there was that small remnant that believed who He was, that followed Him as their Messiah. That was the group that Saul of Tarsus tried to obliterate with his persecution. What was the end result for them?

Romans 9:33b

“…and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” In other words, disappointed is another word that I like there better. Why? Because they put their faith in that Rock of Offence—who to them was not a stumbling stone. He was the cornerstone. See that? And it is all through God’s dealing with Israel.

All right, let’s go to one more, yet. I Corinthians chapter 1 and, again, it’s the same thing. Paul is speaking, but he’s referring to Israel and their relationship with this Stone of Stumbling. I Corinthians chapter 1, oh, my goodness, these are too good to pass up. We’re going to start at verse 18.

I Corinthians 1:18-19

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish (to the lost world) foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is (What?) the power of God. (And that’s where the world misses it.) 19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

Now those of you who were with us in the last several tapings, when’s all that going to happen? During the Tribulation when the wrath of God will finally be poured out. Grace will be brought to an end, and unbelieving humanity is going to come under the wrath of God. It’s going to be unbelievable. Unbelievable!

I’ve been reading a book which is really interesting. It is showing the comparison of the eschatology of Islam, or the Mohammedan religion, compared to the eschatology of our Bible. And, you know, it’s shocking. It is. I don’t want to be – what’s the word I’m looking for? I don’t want to be sensational, but it was shocking. Because you all know that this guy down in Tehran is talking about the coming of the Muslim Mahdi (the M. A. H. D. I.). The Muslim Mahdi is what we would call the biblical anti-Christ.

But here is the shocking thing. He quotes, quotes, quotes how that the Muslim Mahdi is identical with the biblical anti-Christ. See how close we’re getting? So, if the anti-Christ is Muslim, then it all fits in place. I just couldn’t believe the constant comparisons at how identical they are. Except that from the Muslim point of view, it’s their Mahdi and it’s our bible’s anti-Christ. They’re going to do the same thing. Only instead of the anti-Christ as we see it from the Bible who is going to have the false prophet funnel people to a worship for the anti-Christ.

The Muslim Mahdi is also going to also be helped by their concept of the biblical Jesus, only He’s not going to be the biblical Jesus. He’s going to be a corrupt. But nevertheless, he’s going to work hand-in-glove with their Mahdi like our false prophet of Revelation will work with the anti-Christ. Oh, it’s just unbelievable! And all I could

think of as I read the book is how close are we really getting? We’re just getting so close; we can almost hold our breath! Now, back to I Corinthians chapter 1.

I Corinthians 1:19-21a

“For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom…” With all of our technology, with all of our computer smarts—and I still have to sit and ask, how did that guy figure it out? I mean the computer. How does he figure it out? I mean, it’s just beyond this simple mind of mine. But see, this is what the Scripture is talking about. That kind of wisdom is going to be brought to nothing. Well, now I’ve got to hurry. I’m running out of time.

I Corinthians 1:21-23a

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that (What?) believe.” (Now here we’re coming.) 22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greek’s seek after wisdom: 23. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a (What?) stumbling block,…” See that? The Jews consider this Gospel of Grace a stumbling block, because it’s that Stone of Stumbling that’s at the heart of it all.

I Corinthians 1:23b

“…unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks (It’s just so much--) foolishness;” But I made my point. All the way through Israel’s experience, who’s the Stone of Stumbling? Jesus of Nazareth.

LESSON ONE * PART III

Christ as the Rock of Scripture

Various Scriptures

Okay, it’s good to have everybody back from their break. We’re glad you’re back. And for those of you joining us on television, you don’t know what you’re missing by not being able to come in on a Wednesday afternoon. Because we just have a good time, don’t we? It’s a good afternoon, well spent.

But again, we want to thank those of you out there for all your support and your kind letters. My, how we love the letters and your financial support and your prayers. We can’t do it without it. Now that’s all there is to it.

All right, we’re going to continue our study, for the third time now, on the various descriptions of the Rock or the Stone of Scripture, which is always Jesus Christ. Not Peter. It’s Jesus. We have to keep that straight. Because there is only one verse that we looked at in the first half hour, where there is a possibility of confusion that it could be Peter. But it isn’t. Again, I always tell people on a lot of these things—even though Scripture may not affirmatively say something, what does the big picture tell us?

That’s what we have to learn. What’s the big picture in Scripture? The same way with this Rock and Stone deal when you look at the big picture. How often all through Scripture under various circumstances Jesus Christ is the Rock and the Stone.

We’re going to look at the Stone of Judgment this half hour. We’re going to start back in Daniel chapter 2 with Christ as the Stone of Judgment. At the end of days it’ll become a reality. When the final seven years have run their course, and it’s time for His Second Coming, then He will fulfill this symbolic prophecy.

All right, Daniel chapter 2 and, again, just for a little background, you want to remember that Daniel was one of the young Israelites taken captive after Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion. The Temple was destroyed, and they were taken captive down into Babylon, present day Iraq in the area of Baghdad. That is why all this is in the news. We’re coming full circle as we’re going to see in a little bit.

Daniel was a young Jewish lad and was part of the slave system in the palace of the king. Nebuchadnezzar, of course, as you all remember, had a dream. He had no idea what it meant, but it disturbed him. So that meant it must be serious business. He tried to recover the dream, and, of course, none of his wizards and magicians could do it. But

somebody thought about little Daniel down there. So they bring Daniel up, and Daniel not only recovers the dream but interprets it. It becomes, then, the benchmark of prophecy as we understand end-time events.

So we’ll drop down to chapter 2 verse 31 as he recovers the dream. We’re going to take the time to read it. Because even though most of you have heard it a dozen times, we know there are a lot people out there in TV who have probably never heard it. Because these things aren’t covered in church in Sunday school, are they? No. I’ve never heard of it. So we’re going to take advantage of our audience out there. Daniel is speaking.

Daniel 2:31-32

“Thou, O king, sawest, (in his dream now) and behold a great image. (Or likeness or we would say today a statue.) This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. (Or frightening—for whatever reason) 32. This image’s (Or this statue. Now picture in your mind the statue of a man—probably a military type.) head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass.”

Now we’re coming down through the torso. Just picture this in your mind. If I were an artist, I’d love to put it on the board. But I’m not an artist. But you start with the head, and you come down through the torso all the way down to the feet and the toes.

Daniel 2:33-34a

“His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. (And Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar,) 34. Thou sawest (Or you watched in this dream) until that a stone (Here it comes now.) was cut out without hands,…” Now, whenever the Bible speaks of something as being done without hands, what does it indicate?

Well, it’s a work of God. Whatever it is. Whether it speaks of the Temple up in Heaven that was not built with human hands, or something else. It’s something that was constructed by God Himself. All right, the same way here. Nebuchadnezzar sees a stone.

Daniel 2:34b-35a

“…which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,…” In other words, it starts at the feet. So, you’ve got to put all of

this in your mind’s picture now. This stone cut out without hands strikes this statue on its feet, rolls it over, and like a steam roller crushes it to pieces.

Daniel 2:35b

“…and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone (Here we come back now to the crushing stone.) that smote the image became a great mountain, (And a mountain in Old Testament language is a Kingdom. So here this stone now becomes the head of a great kingdom. Doesn’t just fill the Middle East, but what?) and filled the whole earth.” It’s going to be an earth-wide kingdom.

Daniel 2:36-37a

“This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37. Thou O king, art a king of kings:…” Now, again, you have to know your ancient history. Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar was the first great military consort. There had been tribal wars, sure, for hundreds and hundreds of years. But Nebuchadnezzar ruling there in Babylon became the first visible Gentile Empire. And, of course, they had conquered many of the countries around them. But they were the first. He had absolute dictatorial rule. He didn’t have a Congress. He didn’t have a Cabinet. He had nothing. He was absolute in his own power. All right, so consequently he’s called:

Daniel 2:37b-38

“…art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, (In other words, he had absolute control like no one had ever had before.) and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.”

All right, then you come down. It’s just a quick review of the unfolding of Gentile history. That’s why history and Bible study go so well together. You’ve got to get a little glimpse of history, or this is “all Greek” to you. But as soon as Babylon became a great, glorious nation—an empire with one of the most beautiful cities of the then-known world with all of its hanging gardens—then naturally what boils up amongst the enemy? Envy. Jealousy. They’re going to want it.

That’s why I am a proponent of defense. If America was to lay down our defense with all of our natural resources, with our system of living; the world would come in and take us in a minute. Because that’s the way it has always been, beloved. And these

pacifists can go fly a kite. They’re as wrong as wrong can be. You have to defend what you’ve got, or you will lose it.

All right, it happened to Babylon. The greatest empire at that time, but bubbling underneath was this envy from the other areas. Up comes another empire, the Medes and Persians, right next door.

Daniel 2:39

“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another (We skipped over the second one, which was the Medes and the Persians. We jump right over to another one, which was down to the brass part of the image, or the statue, the Greek Empire.) third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Now, let’s just reconstruct. After Babylon became the great beautiful city and empire, then next door, which is present day Iran and those Arab nations—they rose up, defeated the Babylonians, and established their kingdom—the Medes and the Persians, Artaxerxes and Cyrus and some of those guys.

But as time went by, according to the dream, a third empire would come up and overrun the Medes and the Persians. And that was Alexander the Great. You’ve all studied Alexander back in grade school. Well, he was the third of these prophesied Gentile empires. Alexander conquered everything clear to the Ganges River of India and all the way back west as far as Turkey and Greece. He didn’t get to Rome, but he got as far as Greece.

Then what? Well, his empire held for a couple to three hundred years, and then it began to weaken. Up came the Romans. That is the fourth empire. All right, now that’s the next one in verse 40, the fourth empire.

Daniel 2:40

“And the fourth kingdom (Speaking of this statue in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar’s.) shall be strong as iron: (Now I think you all are aware of the power of the Roman military.) forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” And then verse 41:

Daniel 2:41

“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, (In other words, it was fragile. It did not have the strength of pure iron itself. But it was

an admixture.) the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.”

Now if you know anything about metals, you know that iron mixed with clay is like trying to mix cement with plain ordinary dirt. It just won’t work, will it? If you’re going to mix concrete, you have to have the right kind of sand or you won’t have concrete that’s worth anything. Well, it’s the same way with metals. If you’re going to mix iron and clay, it’s absolutely impossible to have any strength. It’ll crumble. All right, so this is a picture of that particular empire. Now verse 42:

Daniel 2:42

“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” All right, now Bible scholars and the people who teach eschatology are convinced that the fourth empire was the ancient Roman Empire. But this next empire is what we see coming on the scene today, and I still hold to Western Europe.

A lot of the prophecy people are now moving to the Middle East because of Islam. But I refuse to do that. I still maintain that Western Europe is going to be this final empire—the mixture of iron and clay—because even the original ten nations that started right after World War II have all been so nationalistic that they cannot work together. They have various ethnic backgrounds. They all have different languages. They finally got a common currency, but they are still an admixture of people. So consequently, they will not have that singleness of purpose like the Nazis did in Germany and so forth. And that’s what I feel will be the end-time empire.

A lot of people are getting the idea that the anti-Christ has to be a Muslim because of the increase in all they’re doing. Well, it could well be. Because what is Europe fast becoming? Muslim! It’s so fast, it’s scary. England especially. So, if I’m going to hold to these Ten Nations of the Common Market as they first came about, and I still do. Even though there are 15 or 20 others, those original ten still have the core of power in that European Community. All right, if indeed the anti-Christ comes out of that and he’s a Muslim, no problem, because Europe is mostly Muslim already. So don’t fall for the idea that it can’t be the Ten Nations of Europe anymore because it’s going to be a Muslim anti-Christ. No problem.

Now I’ll tell you, while I’m on that, because I’m getting so many letters. They’re beginning to ask me now, “Well, Les, is something else going to come up besides the European Community?” No. I do not think so. I didn’t intend to do this, so this is free for nothing. Come over to Daniel chapter 9. I want to set people straight. Don’t fall for all of these little gimmicks. The final empire is still going to be Western Europe,

because it’s out of Western Europe that the anti-Christ will come, albeit, he may be a Muslim. And we understand that that’s no problem. But come down to Daniel chapter 9. Now this may be throwing me off schedule, but I can’t help it.

Daniel chapter 9, here we have the final 490 years of prophecy concerning the Nation of Israel. Most of you know all about this. Come all the way down to verse 26. We’re getting ready now to be introduced to the anti-Christ for the first time, if I’m not mistaken, in the Old Testament.

Daniel 9:26a

“And after threescore and two weeks, and Messiah is cut off, (In other words, after 483 years of the 490 years of prophecy, which still leaves7 years.) but not for himself:…” He didn’t die for anything He had done. Now here it comes, and we take this slowly.

Daniel 9:26b

“…and the people of the prince that shall come (Now who’s the prince that’s coming? The anti-Christ. All right, the anti-Christ is going to come out of this people. And what is that empire going to do to Jerusalem? Destroy it!) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary; (the Temple) and the end thereof…” Which happened in A.D. 70.

All right, so what that verse tells us is that the coming anti-Christ will come out of the same empire that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. Well, anybody knows what empire did that? Rome. No doubt about it. All right, even though Rome as an Empire went into the dustbin of history, as I usually put it. Yet since World War II what are we seeing? It’s coming back up. Only it’s not coming back up as a Roman Empire headquartered in Rome under a Caesar. Instead, it’s coming up more or less as a democracy of Ten Nations. And that’s where the ten toes come in.

All right, now they’re already up to what? Twenty-eight or thirty nations? But you know what? Those original Ten are still at the core of everything with the European Community. I read one time not too long ago that they have veto power. So they’re still in total control. All the others are just satellite nations. All right, so here we have it. We have to have a revived Roman Empire coming out of Western Europe. And out of that empire will come the anti-Christ. He, in turn, of course, will become a world ruler. All right, so much for that.

Come back with me to Daniel chapter 2. So what Daniel is really prophesying here is the unfolding of the Gentile Empires beginning with Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C. So

between 600 B.C. and Christ’s first advent, all four empires came and went. Well, Rome hasn’t gone yet, but they will. The Babylonians came and went. The Medes and Persians came and went. The Greeks came and went. And Rome was holding forth during Christ’s first advent, and then they disappeared.

All right, but now here we are 2,000 years later. And if you know anything about everyday news, what four empires are again in there? Iran. That was what? That was Persia. That was the second empire. Baghdad—our boys are over there fighting every day. What is it? That first empire. And then what was the third empire? Greece—and Syria was the key player so far as Israel was concerned. Syria is in the news every day. And then our Common Market or the European Union is the fourth, and it’s in the news every day. So here we are 2,000 years later, and we’ve come full circle. All these empires are now evident in the business and the production of the world. They’ve all got their fingers in the pie.

Okay, now let’s read on in chapter 2. Let’s see, I got down to about verse 41, I think.

Daniel 2:41

“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it the strength of iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.” All right, now verse 42:

Daniel 2:42-43a

“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men:…” In other words, those nations are coming together and making a loose-knit democratic government. Then come down to verse 44.

Daniel 2:44

“And in the days of these kings (In other words, when all these Gentile Empires are back in the news every day, as we see them as I stand here.) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

Daniel 2:45

“For as much as thou sawest that the stone…” Here we go again, the complete repetition of what the first part of the chapter talked about – that this coming Stone will hit that empire that is ruling at the time, which will be the Revived Roman Empire headed up over in Western Europe under an anti-Christ that will come out of it someplace. Then all these others—Iran, Assyria, Iraq—they’re all going to be smashed to smithereens like the dust of the threshing floor.

Daniel 2:45

“Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, (The Common Market as we now know it, which will be ruling during the Tribulation under the anti-Christ.) the clay, the silver, and the gold;…” And it will be completely annihilated, so that now you can come over to chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. As a result of that crushing stone coming down on these end-time governments and economics or economies, whatever you want to call it, the world’s system under the anti-Christ is at its final end. This is the crushing of the stone.

Daniel 7:13-14

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (God the Son comes before God the Father. And the Father now in turn--) 14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

All right, now in the few minutes we have left, let’s jump all the way up to Revelation chapter 19. Now we see the same stone, but we have different language. Revelation 19—but it’s the same crushing stone of Daniel. And my, we can get excited. Because I think we can just about see it coming over the horizon. Revelation 19 verse 11 and this is just another way of putting the “stone cut out without hands.”

Revelation 19:11

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” Oh, it’s going to be totally fair.

You know, let me stop a minute. The unbelieving world—they hear this and they think—what kind of a God is this anyway? A God that’s going to kill millions and millions of people, that’s not a God of love. Well, of course not. He’s been a God of love for 6,000 years. He has never brought in that kind of judgment until here.

Now even the flood—you know, I’ve said this before. The flood was a judgment, absolutely, because of their ungodliness. But I read again the other night in a scientific journal where their description of the flood was almost identical with what I taught in Genesis 6. Twenty years ago, wasn’t it? It was a long time ago.

You remember how I made the point that it wasn’t the forty days of rain that drowned the people, for goodness sakes. But what happened? Within the first 24 hours the fountains of the deep opened up. It was instantaneous destruction. Instant! They never knew what hit them. Well, this scientist was explaining it. How the tectonic plates were moving underneath and all this. You know, I just get goose bumps. Well, that’s what I’ve always said. It wasn’t the 40 days of rain. It was that breaking up of the fountains of the deep.

All right, now here we have the judgment of God, because His Grace has run its course. Nobody has to go to that horrible place we call the Lake of Fire. Nobody. Everyone’s sin is already paid for. And all they have to do is believe it. But they will not. I mentioned in my seminar in Charlotte the other day, and I made it a point. Don’t get discouraged when we realize that people who think like we do are in a small minority. It’s always been that way. God has never had the majority.

Eight people in the flood. Isaiah said, “a very small remnant.” And the other one – Elijah – he thought he was the only one. And so it’s always been. God has never had the “many.” But anyway, here we come to that Smiting Stone. Who is going to now come, not as the “stone rejected of the builders,” but He’s going to come as the Stone of Judgment.

And the Second Coming, of course, says it all. I haven’t got time enough to read it. But you can read Revelation 19 when you get home. The Second Coming of Christ is when He’s going to come and become absolute Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of Lords, not just over Israel, but over the whole world.

LESSON ONE * PART IV

Christ as the Rock of Scripture

Various Scriptures

It’s good to see you all back here again in program number 4 this afternoon. Then that will be the first four programs of Book 78. For those of you joining us on television, in case you’ve never caught us before. I know a lot of people that write and say, “Well, I saw just a little flick of you and I thought who could get interested in something like that?” And they go on. But sooner or later they listen long enough to get hooked and they become avid listeners. So, if you’re one of those that just happened to catch it, and you wonder what it is, we’re just a simple Bible study. But the Lord has permitted us to make it interesting enough to build a pretty good-sized audience. So bear with us, because we do think that the Word of God is exciting; and it’s definitely the spiritual food, the manna, that mankind needs.

All right, we’re on a whole new concept this afternoon of the Rock and the Stone of Scripture, which is always a picture of Jesus Christ. In this fourth program, we’re going to look at Christ as the foundation stone. It’s a well-known passage of Scripture that we’ll start with—Matthew chapter 7 and we’re going to look at verses 24 and 25. Then we’ll go from there. This is Jesus speaking during His earthly ministry.

Matthew 7:24-25

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: (Here comes the basic part of a foundation.) 25. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Or something stable.)

Matthew 7:26-27

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, (Or they reject it in unbelief.) shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Now, of course, that is where most of Israel fell short. I trust you all realize by now that even all the way up through Israel’s history as the chosen people, the favored nation, yet the vast majority of them never entered into a saving belief. In fact, I have

to do this all the time. I mentioned in the last program that when I was in Charlotte I hit people with it all day long—listen, don’t get discouraged if we feel that we are such a small minority. It has always been this way. The vast majority of the human race does not want to believe what God says.

Go back with me to Isaiah chapter 1. Keep your hand in Matthew, we’ll be coming right back. But Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 9 just says it all. And this wasn’t a unique period of Israel’s history. It was very commonplace. All through Israel’s history that was the lament—why, why can’t you believe? You remember at Kadesh-Barnea when God said to go in and take it; it’s yours. Did they? No. Why? Unbelief. It has always plagued them, but not just Israel. We don’t point the finger at just the Jew. It’s the whole human race. But look what Isaiah said.

Isaiah 1:9a

“Except (or unless) the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,…” Now you can put whatever percentage you want on a small remnant, but it can’t be over 5%. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a very small remnant. So out of the millions of Israel, there were just a few percentages that were true believers. If God had not kept those, then Israel would have been like Sodom. They’d have been like unto Gomorrah. God would have had to destroy them. But because of that little remnant, you see, He kept dealing with the Nation of Israel.

All right, now flip back up to Matthew. Since you’re in chapter 7—I didn’t intend to do this either, but here they are—the words that say the same thing in chapter 7. Go back to verses 13 and 14. You know these verses. And it means exactly what it says—verse 13. Jesus is speaking.

Matthew 7:13a

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to (What?) destruction,…” Not salvation, but just the opposite. That’s where most of even the Jews were going. Oh, they were religious. They wouldn’t miss temple worship for anything. They wouldn’t miss a feast day. But saving faith? No, they didn’t have it.

Matthew 7:13b-14

“…and many there be which go in thereat: (To destruction. Now the next verse is the flip side of the coin.) 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, (That is eternal life.) and (How many?) few there be that find it.” And it’s never been any different.

And I always use the point—come back with me to Acts chapter 1 and verse 15. This is almost heartbreaking. Af ter three years of signs and wonders and miracles by the Son of God Himself, He’s now ascended back to Glory after His rejection. And Peter and the Eleven are calling the believers together to wait for Pentecost. How many believing Jews do we have? Why, you’d think they would have had to hire a stadium, wouldn’t you? But did they? How many? One hundred and twenty. Let’s read it.

Acts 1:15

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, (That is these followers of Jesus, not just the Twelve. All of those who had become believers that Jesus was the Christ, remember.) and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)” Horror of horrors, that’s all? Yes, that’s all. Now, he may have had more up in Galilee, but in the area of Jerusalem, that’s all there were. And it’s never been any different.

My goodness, at the time of the flood, and I maintain there were 4 to 5 billion people on earth. Why couldn’t there have been? They lived for a thousand years. They probably all had two or three hundred kids. So don’t think I’m stretching it when I say 4 to 5 billion people in that 1,600 years of time. How many were spared? Eight. That’s all. What happened to the rest? They were lost. And so it’s always been. But we have to still get out and proclaim salvation for the few.

Even the Apostle Paul, when he made his comment that God had called him out to save—“the multitudes?” No. How many? “Some.” How many are some? Not very many. So always be aware of that. Don’t get discouraged because you don’t get the multitudes. I don’t want the multitude. If I filled a football stadium, I’d run scared, because that’s not where it’s at. All we get are the few, the small percentage.

All right, so back to our study of the Rock here in Matthew. Jesus uses the analogy that the man who built his house on a rock foundation was able to withstand the storms of life. And that’s what it really amounts to. But those that are built on the things of the flesh and tough times come, what happens? They fall apart. They go into depression. They can’t handle it. The admonition again is just like it was back in Exodus where we started this afternoon. That when the Rock was smitten, out flowed that water of life for the whole nation and all their livestock, and how it was supplying all their needs to the place where even the enemies wanted to come in and take it over.

All right, so that’s the concept of Scripture. Let’s look at one more while we’re in Matthew. Come over with me to Matthew chapter 21 and drop down to verse 42. Jesus is still speaking. And remember, He never addressed anybody but Jews, with two exceptions—the Roman Centurion and the Canaanite Woman. Otherwise, this is

always a conversation between Jesus and the Jews. And the Jews are usually the religious leaders. I think that’s what we have here. He is addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 21:42-43

“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, (Just like we’ve been reading all afternoon.) the same is become the head of the corner: (In other words, their rejection didn’t end God’s program for Israel, not by any stretch.) this is the Lord’s doing, and it’s marvellous in our eyes? 43. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

Now, I think that’s a reference that after they have rejected Him, God is going to turn to the Gentiles—not through Israel, but through one Jew. Not through the Nation, but through the Apostle Paul. We’re going to look at that before we leave, hopefully.

Matthew 21:44

“And whosoever shall fall on this stone (speaking of Himself, the Stone of Offence, the Stone of Stumbling) shall be broken: (That is spiritually because of their unbelief.) but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” In other words, there’s the other aspect of the Stone, the judgment. It’ll grind them to powder in judgment because of their unbelief. Now I cap this with a smile when I read verse 45.

Matthew 21:45

“And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived (or understood) that he spoke of (Who?) them.” They knew who He was addressing. Did they do anything about it? No. And, you know, it’s so sad. It’s even the same way today.

Some of the toughest nuts to crack are those that are standing behind the pulpits and are in the seminaries and so forth. But we are getting phone calls. I just shared a couple with some people. My, it’s thrilling. But the sad part is, it’s after they retire. After they’ve retired, then they’ll say, “Les, will God ever forgive me for misleading people for 40 years?” Well, isn’t it great that God is a forgiving God? But see, those are the kind of phone calls I get. They see it when they’ve got time to sit down and contemplate it and study it—and from various denominations.

But here it is, the fact of Scripture. If they do not want to recognize Christ for who He is, then He becomes a Stone of Judgment, or however you want to put it. All right, now let’s move on, all the way up to I Peter chapter 2 and verse 1. I was there for a little bit, I think, in the first program. But now we’re going to come back to I Peter and spend a little time here. Then hopefully have time to get back to Paul’s reference to our foundation, which is not a Rock concept, but it’s just a foundation.

Now before you go any further, come back with me to I Peter chapter 1 verse 1. Because what’s my first rule of thumb? Who’s writing? Peter. Who’s he writing to? Jews. And what are the circumstances? They’re believers. They’re waiting for their Messiah to return. But before He can return, what are they going to have to go through? The Tribulation. So, these little epistles back here are really preparatory letters to the believing Jews if and when the Tribulation comes.

Now, most of Christendom misses that. I read another one the other night. The guy was good. And it was enjoyable reading. But you know, as I got to the end of the book, it dawned on me. He had never once used one verse from Paul’s epistles. Not one. He never mentioned the Body of Christ. He never mentioned the Rapture. He was writing everything as if everybody from John the Baptist until the Second Coming were Christians. And consequently, they’re all going to come under the beheading of the Muslim world. And, you know, I’m kind of slow on the draw myself. Now why didn’t I see this earlier? But you know, you get to the end of the book and then it hits you. They’ve totally missed it. But I Peter, chapter 1 verse 1:

I Peter 1:1-2a

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, (I’m going to put in the word “writing” without violating Scripture, because that’s what he’s doing. He’s…) writing to the strangers throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (And they were.) 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God...” So, who’s he writing to? Believing Jews who had been scattered out of Jerusalem because of Saul of Tarsus’ persecution. Now to these believing Jews, then, chapter 2 becomes so appropriate. We can gain from it, but this isn’t doctrine for us. This is for Israel. This is Jewish.

I Peter 2:1-2

“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” Now that’s appropriate for us, absolutely it is.

I Peter 2:3-5a

“If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, (Now what’s ringing the bell? Jewish. We’ve been seeing it all afternoon. The Stone and the Rock concept are between Israel and God, and here it is again.) disallowed indeed of men, (See, the Stone was rejected of the builders.) but chosen of God, and precious, 5. Ye also, (you Jewish believers) as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy (What?) priesthood,…”

I’m going to take the time. I’ll probably regret it, but go all the way back, keep your hand here. Go all the way back to Exodus chapter 19. You know, I don’t intend to do these things. That’s why I get way off schedule. But Exodus 19 verse 5, Israel is just out of Egypt and has just crossed the Red Sea, and they’re gathered around Mount Sinai. God has called Moses up into the mountain. And up there in the mountaintop, He says to Moses:

Exodus 19:5

“Now therefore, (Now remember, Moses is representing Israel, the Nation.) if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: (See, that’s not church language. This is God and Israel.) for all the earth is mine:” God’s Sovereign. If He wanted to call Israel His, that was His prerogative, and that’s what He did. Now here it comes.

Exodus 19:6a

“And ye shall be unto me (at some future time) a (What?) kingdom of priests,…” Now that’s plain language, isn’t it? That’s what Israel was to become. A kingdom of priests. In other words, every Jew was to be a believer and a priest of Jehovah. All right, come back to Peter, and it’s a perfect fit. It doesn’t fit for us, but it does for Peter’s listeners. All right, back to I Peter chapter 2 verse 5 again.

I Peter 2:5-6a

“Ye also, as lively stones, (Because they have now placed their faith in that Stone, the Rock, Christ Jesus.) are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, (not animal sacrifices, but spiritual sacrifices) acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone,…” Now here we go again. Now it’s not the stone which the builders rejected; it’s the Stone as the head part of the corner.

Now if you mull these things over, if you’re going to build a building of any kind—if I’ve got it right, I hope I do—you’re going to start from some designated place. Right? And from that designated place you’re going to draw your dimensions

wherever it is. But you have to have a starting place. Now normally when you begin to build a pretty good-sized building, you’re going to start with what? The cornerstone. That’s what’s going to be there as the place you shoot from, from every direction. The cornerstone. And that’s exactly what Christ will be at the beginning of the Kingdom. He is going to be the Headstone. He’s going to be the Cornerstone. He’s going to be that Rock that all Israel can rest on. All right, so he says:

I Peter 2:6b

“…Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, and precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” But who’s the Cornerstone? Jesus Christ! So even for Israel’s future, they’re going to have to recognize—after the Church Age is ended, the Tribulation comes in—that Christ returns as the Chief Cornerstone in whom they have placed their faith. All right, if they do, “He that believeth on him shall not be confounded,” or I like the word disappointed. They’re not going to suddenly realize they’re lost. They’re going to know they’re saved. And they’ll not be confounded. All right, now verse 7:

I Peter 2:7

“Unto you therefore who believe (Not to every Jew. Again, it has to be the faith element. And it’s always been the few. I’ve been saying that all afternoon, haven’t I? Again, to the few who believe--) he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, (then Christ becomes) the stone which the builders disallowed, (And what did they do with Him then? They stumbled on Him and they were crushed. But nevertheless, even though He was disallowed at His first coming--) the same is made the head of the corner.”

I Peter 2:8a

“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them who stumble at the word, being (What?) disobedient:…” And disobedient in what area? Faith. They refuse to believe who He is. And that’s the world’s problem today. That’s the whole world’s problem. They refuse to believe the work of the Cross. They refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is the Creator of everything. They make Him anything and everything but. And they’re going to miss it, because they are disobedient. Then He comes back in verse 9, again, to head up what we just saw in Exodus.

I Peter 2:9a

“But (Peter says) ye (speaking of the Jews to whom he was writing) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;…” See, that’s not language for us. But it’s so appropriate for the believing Jews of Peter’s day.

All right, now for us in the Body of Christ, I have to come back and spend our closing moments in what Paul calls our foundation. Because after all, I won’t be helping anybody out there that’s lost if we don’t touch on where Paul comes from. I Corinthians chapter 3, whenever I’m in this, I always start with verse 9. Now this is where we are today. This is where every human being has to confront the God of Scripture. Remember, Paul always writes to the believer, and he says:

I Corinthians 3:9

“For we are (himself included, as we are) laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s (Now what’s the word?) building.” We’re not talking about a Rock; now we’re talking about a building.

I Corinthians 3:10

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the (Not a, but rather the, which makes it singular.) foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

Now here’s a perfect parallel with a verse we read earlier in the book of Acts. Where Peter said, “There hath no other foundation been laid than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” All right, Paul is saying the same thing with regard to our foundation for the Body of Christ in this Age of Grace.

I Corinthians 3:11

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Now I know a lot of people think that because I use Paul so much that I’m putting Paul as the foundation. Don’t you believe it! Paul is NOT the foundation.

Paul is the architect that is building on that foundation. And he is preparing people to come in from generation after generation and to keep building and calling out a people for His name from amongst the Gentiles; because Israel, for the most part, has been set aside. Now, I wish I had three minutes instead of one. But anyway, here we have the one and only foundation for salvation in this Age of Grace—and that is faith in Christ crucified, buried, and risen from the dead (I Corinthians 15:1-4).

Turn back real quick to Romans chapter 11. I’m going to have to do this real quick. And again, here is the definite promise that God is not through with Israel. That, yes, they fell; but they’re still going to be brought back into God’s program to finish His program for the Ages. Drop in with me at verse 11.

Romans 11:11

“I say then, Have they stumbled (Over that Rock of Offence, remember?) that they should fall? God forbid: (Don’t even think such a thought.) but rather through their fall salvation is come unto(Whom?) the Gentiles,…”

So what does it all say? By their stumbling they crucified their Christ. But when they crucified the Christ, what did they open up for us Gentiles? The plan of Salvation. So never, never look at the Jew with any kind of disdain. They were instruments in God’s hands to bring about everything that had to happen for our salvation. And when God is through with us, He’s still going to turn to His Chosen People.

LESSON TWO * PART I

PART 1 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 2, 8, and 16

As most of you know, this is just an informal Bible study. I’m not a preacher. I’m not an evangelist. But I do like to pick the Scriptures apart and, specifically, as we’re going to show now in these next several programs, show how intrinsically all of this Book fits from cover-to-cover. What’s in the Old concealed is in the New revealed and visa versa. So this is what we’re going to be doing as we open with this series of the Messianic Psalms. We’re going to be looking at 16 different chapters throughout the Book of Psalms that all vividly foretell the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah. That’s why we call them the Messianic Psalms.

Again, I want to thank our television audience for all of your prayers. What a thrill that wherever Iris and I go, the word we hear over and over is, we pray for you every day. I think what’s made this program what it is, are the prayers of the saints. And we do thank you, and, of course, for the financial help, as well; because we do have to pay the bills. And I will never ever ask for money. That was one of the first things we got straight with the TV guys when we first started taping about 18 years ago. I t